Within These Walls
by RMoriluvr
Summary: Sequel to As the Sun Rises. Does life really end when we leave our mortal existence behind? The answer is no. But in a world that is unlike anything they ever imagined, they must press forward against opposition, in hopes that they can be with each other again, forever. Not everything is as it appears to be though, in the so-called heaven they had believed existed. Newt/OC.
1. Chapter 1

A sequel to _As the Sun Rises_. Alright, I have had a lot of glowing reviews from the first story, so look at this one as a nice little sequel. There will be romance, supernatural elements, mystery, blah, blah, blah. I love reviews, but I don't need them to keep writing. I have this planned out, not sure how long it will be, but it will be a decent length.

I don't own _The Maze Runner. _

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 1-10 Years Later<strong>  
><em>

How could it have come to this? She was immune to The Flare.

Instead she laid on her bed dying from something as simple as an insect bite.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way. This was supposed to be the paradise. As much as she missed Newt, she was supposed to keep on living, to watch her son grow up.

She felt numb more than anything else. She lay on the small makeshift bed in the first aid hut. Brenda and Ava tended to her, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. There wasn't much they could do but wait for her to die.

The streaks of red all along her body indicated the infection making its way toward her heart. There was no anti-venom, no antibiotics, nothing to help her.

It was up to her body and immune system, and it had failed. Her body was never the same after she had given birth. She was always a little quicker to get sick after, with either a cold or flu.

Her entire body felt heavy. Over the past week, her body had weakened slowly. It started off with fainting and pain at the bite site, and then, vomiting, diarrhea, chest pains, and even a hard time breathing. Ava Paige believed that she might have an allergy to the bug that did it to her.

She had weakened to the point that all she could do was to lay down and rest.

And she felt it. She knew that she would be dying soon.

It pained her to think of her son being left as an orphan at such a young age. Thomas, Brenda, Minho and all the others had come in to say their good-byes and promised to look after him, that he would be taken care of, that she should not worry about his future.

She felt a soft grip on her hand. She turned her head slowly and smiled softly at the nine year old boy staring at her. Dark blonde hair, brown eyes, skinny and with a square jaw. He had all the innocence of a child, with wide eyes and an easy smile on his face most of the time.

He was the spitting image of his father.

"Mom." He said. He bit his lower lip, trying to stop it from quivering. Ava and Brenda stood behind Isaac, looking down at her with sad faces. She had grown close to Ava and to Brenda over the past ten years. They had helped comfort and support her and had become her closest confidants.

She looked at him closely. "You look so much like your father, you know?" She whispered to him quietly.

He only nodded. "You've told me." It was a patient answer. He had heard it from her many times as she lay in bed, with her body slowly deteriorating. Her mind was so fatigued, half the time she wasn't even lucid anymore.

"I'll see him soon. You don't have to worry about me." Isaac only smiled and nodded.

He had only seen pictures of his father and heard stories. He didn't know much, but they had finally told him that the virus, The Flare, had taken him. She had a box that held pictures of him, and memories. She had told him stories, and so had Thomas and Minho, but it still wasn't enough.

He wished that he knew him.

"Please, live long Isaac, and be happy." Tears filled her eyes as she looked at her boy, all skin and bone, with the mop of shaggy hair. He was growing by leaps and bounds and her heart ached that she wouldn't be with him anymore.

"I love you."

"I love you too Mom." Isaac tried to stop the tears flowing down his cheeks. It wasn't very manly to cry, he'd heard from his friends. But all those friends had both their mother and father with them still. And now, he was about to lose his mother, the only parent that he had known.

She put her hand on his cheek, wiping the tears away with a shaking hand, as if the motion was taking all of her strength. She smiled at him, and then closed her eyes, thinking of Newt, and trying to calm the ache in her heart, the feeling she had as she thought of leaving her only child behind.

That night, Amelia officially passed on from the paradise the immune had founded on earth.

* * *

><p>Alby and Nick stood outside the gates of the large city. Looking out around them, there was the forest of lost souls-where those people who couldn't give up their lost lives on earth, would go and stay for large amounts of time, yearning for a different fate that they had already been dealt.<p>

What most people in the forest didn't realize was that they could live a life in this afterlife, a new life, maybe even start over.

Letting go of the past was something that was difficult for the strongest people at times.

Nick nudged Alby with his elbow as they watched Newt leave the forest. Newt went there often. He had the will to leave the forest, when he needed to. When Nick and Alby asked exactly what or who he was looking for, he would just shake his head quickly and keep on walking.

The two other men were always with him though, in case they needed to drag him out of the hellhole. It was said by some people in this city that they all lived, that the forest wasn't just a place to relive old memories, but also a place where you could glean images and feelings of loved ones left behind on earth.

Newt walked up to them. His shoulders slumped a little more than usual.

He had grown a bit. The aging in the city was unique. They were all dead, and yet their bodies were physical, but a lot more hardy than their bodies on earth. There were children that could be born in the city as well, which always took people by surprise, but made sense since their bodies were almost the same as on earth. They aged normally until they hit their mid-twenties, and then the aging slowed down quite a bit. Newt was only a little taller than he was when he first showed up, dead ten years earlier.

It was a lucky break that Nick had found him where he did. The newly dead emerged mostly from the forest, which is why it was so overpopulated with people. But some show up randomly at different places.

For Newt, he had shown up in the middle of a wedding ceremony in a church. They said that you could tell what someone was thinking about when they died, based on where they showed up.

Apparently Newt had been thinking about a wedding or marriage or church-neither Alby or Nick really knew. They only knew that they had found him about two years later, helping make repairs at an orphanage. When Nick spotted him, and yelled in surprise, Newt had only given him a trademark grin and continued working. Nick had left to find Alby and a few others after, and came back. Newt gave hugs and grins, happy to see all his old friends. They dragged him to the building where they all lived and only Alby really noticed that there was something off about his close friend.

When he asked Newt about it, Newt stayed quiet, only shaking his head and refusing to answer.

It wasn't until a week after they had found him, that Nick and Alby followed him out from a distance and watched him enter the deep, dark and creepy forest. They waited for him for a couple of hours, when he eventually came out, his expression slightly somber.

When he spotted them, he put up his hands to stop any questions and said, "I need to go there at least once a week. Don't ask me why. I won't bloody tell you." He then trudged his way back to the large building where he stayed with the rest of the Gladers.

Nick sighed softly, thinking about the past, and wondering why his friend insisted on revisiting old memories when he could live a new life. Newt was a good guy, he could probably find a girl, maybe one of the female Gladers and settle down, try to find some happiness, but instead, he just threw himself in work.

Newt looked at Alby and Nick and said, "Thanks."

Alby and Nick looked at each other and shrugged in nonchalance. "If you would tell us why you go in there, maybe we'd understand why you insist on missing a few hours of sleep every week."

"Maybe some day. But, not right now." Newt responded. He started walking back into the city.

Nick whispered to Alby as they followed behind. "I bet Chuck's right, it's a Triple L."

Alby looked at Nick in confusion. "What are you going on about shank?"

"Lost Lady Love." Nick held up one finger at a time while saying each of the Ls. "Why else would he still be pining for someone or something? He could probably have any girl he wants, but he doesn't seem interested at all."

Alby only shook his head. "When would Newt have had time to get involved with a girl? It was only 5 or 6 weeks from the time I died until Newt showed up here."

Nick just shrugged his shoulders, watching Newt lead the way.

* * *

><p>Victoria and Nick walked through the streets, making their way to the orphanage where they had first discovered Newt. Things were rough in the city at the moment. For some reason, food was getting harder and harder to come by, and there had been more kidnappings lately.<p>

They stepped into the orphanage where they were usually swarmed by the mob of children. Instead, there was complete silence. Nick and Victoria looked at each other in curiosity as they stepped further into the small building. Pillows, blankets, papers, toys, food were all over the floor. It appeared as though nobody had cleaned in over a week.

It had been a while since they had checked in on the orphanage, but they hadn't been expecting it to be abandoned like this.

They walked into the common room area, and stopped, dead.

There, on the floor, lay a woman sleeping. She had light brown hair, that was long and pulled back in a braid down her back. She was relatively short, with a petite body. The curves that she had were soft, not athletic at all. She wore a white shirt and black pants. It was the same clothes they all appeared in when they had just died.

Victoria walked forward slowly.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked as he followed behind, warily looking at the slumbering woman.

"She looks familiar...I think..." She stopped, hoping that she wasn't getting ahead of herself.

The woman's eyes, as though hearing them speak, began fluttering until they opened suddenly.

Amelia found herself looking at a taller girl with blond hair and startling blue eyes. She had high cheek bones, with a face that just screamed sensuality. The woman took a step back suddenly, into the Hispanic man behind her. He put out his hands in peace.

"Hey, calm down. We just came and found you here. No need to freak out." Nick told her in what was hopefully a soothing tone.

Amelia blinked her eyes slowly and sat up. She looked at the blonde woman, and saw that she recognized her.

"Amelia?" Victoria asked, with a tentative, shy look on her face. It had been so long since she had seen her. She had grown but Victoria was positive it was the same girl that she had known all those years ago in the maze.

"Tori?"

Amelia found herself crushed in a tight hug against her closest friend from the glade. Her close friend who had been killed while trying to escape. One of her fellow Med-jacks.

Amelia sighed in relief.

"You know her Victoria?"

Victoria turned and smiled at Nick with a nod.

"Amelia, this is Nick." Amelia reached out her hand to Nick, who took her smaller hand in his much larger one and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Amelia. I assume this is one of your Gladers." Victoria nodded affirmatively.

"Did you just show up here Amelia? Have you seen the children?" Amelia looked around quietly.

"Children?" She asked, with a sad, pensive look on her face. She then shook her head no.

"When I came to, it was empty and messy, and I didn't know where else to go. And I was feeling so tired, I just...fell back asleep."

"This is an orphanage, usually a very busy one." Nick said with concern as he looked around. Amelia looked a little lost. She stood up, with the help of Victoria.

"Take it easy, Amelia. It can take a while to get your bearings. At least you have your memories, though, right?" She only nodded, with her mind solely focused on one person.

Newt.

Nick looked through the rest of the building, shaking his head.

"We're going to have to investigate this." He said solemnly. "This shouldn't be happening."

Victoria only nodded and helped Amelia walk out of the building. Amelia blinked in the fading sunlight. It was close to sunset now, and she looked around her.

"It's a city. When you die, you go to a city?" She looked at them confused. "Shouldn't we be in heaven?"

Nick and Victoria just smiled at each other and shrugged.

"Like I said before, it can take a while to get used to it." Amelia only shook her head, and walked off with Nick and Victoria.

* * *

><p>She walked slowly after Nick and Victoria. It was a short walk, for the most part. Amelia was in awe of her surroundings.<p>

This was not what she had been expecting.

Instead of pearly gates, it was as though she was back on earth. Everything was built like a large city, with huge sky scrapers, busy streets and people on sidewalks. Every way she looked, it appeared as though the city stretched on for miles and miles.

Victoria caught her looking around like a lost puppy dog and brought her in closer with another large hug as she wrapped an arm around Amelia's shoulder. She grinned as she looked down at her friend.

"It will be fine. You just have to get used to it." Amelia only looked at her and nodded.

Where was Newt?

In this huge city, would she be able to find him?

He said that he would wait for her, but what if he had moved on. Ten years was a long time, for both of them.

She sighed as she tried not to panic at the thought of Newt with another woman. She was being completely irrational. But, the jealousy pricked at the back of her mind.

What if-

She bumped into Victoria's back, not paying attention to the fact that they had stopped walking rather suddenly.

She looked around Victoria, looking at what was a large building, with several stories.

"This is where we all live."

"Oh." Amelia answered, taken aback by the large size and modernity of the structure. It had been a long time since she had been in a city. The size and scope of everything was throwing her off.

They walked her into the apartment building and she followed them up several flights of stairs. The stopped, after what seemed like forever to Amelia, and opened the door, entering a large hallway. Along the hallway were several doors, probably into individual apartments.

"We all live on this floor," Nick told Amelia as he walked her down the hallway. Raucous laughter filled the air, and they stopped at one apartment in particular. Victoria grinned at her as she gave a knock and then opened the door.

Inside the room were few women and a man. The man looked up in curiosity. He had a huskier build, with wide shoulders, an innocent face and curly hair.

"A greenie?" He asked Nick, looking at Amelia curiously.

"Kind of..." Victoria answered, pushing her toward the middle of the room.

The girls gasped and leapt up.

"Oh my goodness!"

"Amelia!"

"When did you get here?"

Amelia found herself smiling widely, looking over the three friends that she knew from the glade. Three friends that had been killed in the maze or by trying to leave it.

Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Katherine.

"She just got here. She's trying to take everything in." Victoria answered for Amelia, trying to get her friends to calm down. The newly arrived dead were usually a lot more jittery than Amelia. She seemed to be taking everything in stride.

"You were in the maze too, then?" The boy asked curiously. He looked a little younger than her. For some reason, she just felt herself wanting to protect him.

She didn't notice that Nick and Victoria had left her behind, until they closed the door softly behind.

Amelia looked around wildly, wondering why they had left her behind so suddenly.

"It's okay. They just have to report at a meeting. It's where all the head honchos go to talk about their reports for the day."

"Reports?"

"I'm Chuck," the younger man said, offering her his hand. She took his hand and shook it, noticing that he had ignored her question.

"How were things on earth the last time you left, Amelia?" Elizabeth asked quietly, as she led Amelia to the couch to sit down.

"Um...not much going on. Those that were immune to The Flare kind of separated themselves from the rest of humanity. Everyone else is killing each other, I believe."

The girls looked at her, quite horrified at the news.

"Hey," Chuck asked, "Did you-did you ever meet anyone named Thomas? He was like a brother to me. I heard that he was immune to The Flare as well."

Amelia blinked her eyes at Chuck and then nodded at him softly.

"He was a close friend of mine." She stopped and mulled over her thoughts. "He's married and has a couple of kids now."

"Really?" Chuck asked with a big smile. "Are his kids as curious as he is?"

She only nodded with a smile, recalling how much those children drove Brenda nuts with all their questions.

"What about Minho? Frypan?" Chuck was on the edge of his seat, waiting to hear about his friends.

Amelia shook herself out of the reverie she had fallen in, thinking furiously. Chuck knowing Thomas was one thing, but knowing several of the others, that was another.

She started connecting her thoughts logically.

"You were in the boys maze?" She asked quietly, breathlessly, waiting for his answer.

"Yeah. I died though, right when we exited it." He looked at her expectantly.

Nick had mentioned how they all lived on the same floor in the apartment building.

Was it really possible?

"So, all of us here, are former Maze trial candidates?"

"Of course," Charlotte responded looking at her friend with a small smile.

"We try to find as many as possible, so that way everyone has someone here to learn on for support. It's easy to get lost, and to lose yourself here without a purpose." Elizabeth chimed in.

"The longest anyone ever went on their own was two years before we found him." Kate told her softly, gauging the expression on her face.

Amelia looked either gravely serious or as if she was about to become sick.

She looked at Chuck, ignoring her friends.

"All the boy gladers are here then as well?" Chuck nodded at her silently, watching her expression. He had never seen someone so engrossed in her own thoughts, as though she were in her own little world.

She didn't want to ask them, but she had to know. If he wasn't there, then she would go off and find him herself. There was no way she would stop looking for him either, even if it took her decades.

"Where's Newt?"

Chuck looked at her in surprise.

"You know Newt?"

Amelia nodded affirmatively. "Is he here?"

Elizabeth exchanged looks with Kate and Charlotte. "Of course he's here. He's one of our leaders. Probably back from his work today, whatever that is."

"Yeah, it's not like they tell us anything though, staying shut up in that room." Kate added, with a small pout on her face.

Charlotte however, was curious as to how Amelia knew Newt.

She noticed that Amelia looked awfully pale too.

"How do you know Newt?" She asked, looking at Amelia curiously.

How was Amelia supposed to respond to that?

Oh, you know, we met while WICKED was trying to kill us all, fell in love during another trial, and then were separated when he decided to be killed rather than go crazy with The Flare virus?

Yeah, and he's my baby daddy?

No, she wouldn't answer that question, at least not yet.

There was only one thing on her mind, something that jumped out to her. A pressure building in her stomach and chest.

A need and desire to find him.

She had to see him.

He was so close.

There was so much to tell him.

She wanted to hold him and touch and just feel his arms around her, with his hands going through her hair.

Ten years of celibacy made her crave even the most chaste of touches.

She needed to find him.

Amelia looked at Chuck.

"Please, I need to see him."

She thought that he would protest a little more, that he would say 'no'. Instead, he quizzically looked at her, noticing the desperation in her voice and gave her a solemn nod.

"Alright, let's go."

Chuck led Amelia out into the hall, ignoring the protests of the three girls behind him. He looked at her, before he began walking.

"We're not supposed to interrupt."

Amelia bit her bottom lip and stared at Chuck. "I don't want you to get in trouble. I'll take the blame."

She then looked forward.

"Alright then, this way."

Chuck led her down the hall, toward the very end. He stopped at the last door on the left, and opened it slowly, looking in quickly. He then opened the door more for her, and she slipped in the room behind him.

* * *

><p>Newt was back from his duties for the day. While the Gladers currently lived in the outer ring of the city, within the safety of the first wall, things were beginning to stir.<p>

In the ten years since he had died, things had suddenly begun to change dramatically. He was standing next to Winston, who had been with him as they had begun searching for clues after the missing people.

They had started gaining a reputation as very able group of young me and women who wanted to help as many people as possible, so when residents of the city started disappearing, they came to the Gladers first. Nobody knew what went on in the other two rings of the city, just that they were blocked off by large walls.

Newt had been given the charge of sending out feelers, people who could begin to blend in and see what life was like in the other parts of the city, to see if that was where the kidnapped were taken.

He sighed and looked at the map, trying to focus on Nick and Victoria as they spoke.

He listened as Nick explained how they were checking up on the orphanage that they frequented.

"No kids, none at all. We only found a woman there. The place looked like it had been abandoned for weeks. All those kids, just gone." Nick said, pointing to the area of the map where the orphanage was located.

Newt looked at the map, trying to calm his own thoughts. It was the orphanage that he had spent a large part of his first two years, before the others had found him. He felt himself get angry at the thought of people stealing the children.

"What about the woman you found?" Alby asked, "Are you sure she didn't have anything to do with it? Did you interrogate her?"

Newt looked at Nick quietly, thinking that the person responsible for the disappearances wouldn't be stupid enough to stick around.

"No," Victoria answered with a slight scowl on her face, trying to ignore Alby's grim attitude. He wasn't as gruff and strict as he used to be, but he definitely wasn't a people person.

"I know her. She was in the Glade with me. Plus, she had just arrived."

"Yeah, newbie. Just died." Nick said, nodding his head at Victoria's words. "She seems trustworthy enough. Pretty calm as well."

"Who shows up at an orphanage after they die?" Winston asked curiously, to nobody in particular. He had never heard of anyone randomly appearing there before.

"Alright, well, I'd like to meet-" Alby began saying and then stopped suddenly as the door opened.

Chuck stepped into the room, with a slightly nervous look on his face.

Newt only shook his head at the younger man. Chuck knew he wasn't supposed to be in there.

"Really Chuck, you know that you're not supposed to be in here!" Alby barked at him ferociously. He was like a pitbull when he was angry.

"It's not his fault. I asked him to bring me here." A soft, confident voice called out.

They almost wouldn't have seen her, she was short, and was practically hidden behind Chuck.

"Amelia needed to see-" Chuck began to say, trying to figure out how he was going to get out of trouble.

And just like that Newt pushed his way forward, his long legs making the trip to her fast. Chuck moved out of the way quickly. He had seen the look of surprise on Newt's face flash, along with a few others.

Relief, adoration, he wasn't really sure. But he knew that if Newt had been looking that way at the woman, a split second after only hearing her name, she was most likely someone that could be trusted.

It had been quick, but as soon as he heard her name, and saw her, Newt was suddenly there.

Amelia, before she realized it, before she could even process what was happening, felt herself enveloped in two long, warm arms. He pressed her face against his chest in a huge hug, breathing her in deeply.

She sighed softly in contentment. All the insecure thoughts that she had the last ten years were gone. All that she knew, was that she was here, in his arms, once more.

Neither Newt or Amelia noticed the stunned stares of the others in the room. The gaped mouth face that Victoria had on her face. The furrowed eyebrows of Alby or the "oh" of surprise from Nick.

And neither Newt or Amelia paid attention to Chuck, who gloatingly stared at the others in the room, pointing at them and said, "See, I told you so. It _was_ a Triple L. And none of you believed me."

In what felt like no time at all, Newt pulled away from Amelia, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"You're here?" He asked softly, hating himself for being so happy at the thought of her dead on earth. He looked at her in concern.

She nodded softly, with her hands placed on his own. She had no idea it would feel like this. She worried that she would forget about it, the love that they had. That it would pass her by, and it would never happen again.

Instead, her emotions and feelings flooded into her, all the repressed thoughts began flowing. Tears began to fill her eyes.

They had so much to talk about, but all she wanted to do was stare at him.

She wanted to make sure that he was really there, and not a cruel dream.

He gave her a small, tentative smile, then moved one of his hands off of her shoulder. He pushed a piece of hair, come out from her braid back behind her ear. He then put the same hand on her cheek and gazed at her in adoration.

They stood there, just taking each other in.

"AHEM!"

Of course, they forgot that there was a crowd. Amelia felt her face warm up with a blush. She went to take a step back away from Newt, not a fan herself of public affection. Newt, however, kept his hand on her shoulder, effectively keeping her close to him. He noticed her blush and smirked at her, proud of the fact that he could still make her blush.

He then looked over at Nick who was the one that coughed.

"Uh, so you know Amelia?" Victoria asked quietly, with open curiosity. Amelia was going to have to explain herself.

Newt nodded.

"Well, this is good, and all, but we should probably get back to our meeting. Chuck, maybe you can take Amelia back-?" Nick began to ask quietly.

Newt shook his head, and looked at Alby and then back at Amelia.

"Actually, Winston will report for us. We need to talk." He said the last sentence pointing between himself and Amelia.

"Won't there be time for that later, Newt?" Alby asked, floored at his friends reaction to seeing the new woman. Chuck had been right. It was a girl that Newt was missing.

Newt's face almost hardened.

He replied to the others, "This is more important right now."

And with that statement, he left the room, guiding Amelia into the hall, with his hand on the small of her back.

* * *

><p>To be continued<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2-Reunion**

Newt led Amelia down the hall toward the two bedroom apartment that he shared with Alby. Amelia noticed that his hand never left the small of her back. She didn't say anything else and he didn't either. Both of them were looking forward to the privacy that would be afforded them once they got to the apartment.

Newt stopped in front of the door, and pulled out a key from the pocket of his pants. He unlocked the door and opened it wide, gesturing to Amelia to go in first.

She entered the apartment first and stood looking around, not sure what to do. It was a good size place. It wasn't as tidy as the girl's apartment that she was in just ten minutes ago, but it wasn't dirty either. It just looked like a place that men would live, which she supposed, was the case.

"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable. Do you want anything to drink?" Amelia shook her head no at his question and walked over to the couch, sitting down. After their long embrace, things had dissolved into an awkward silence. And all that Amelia thought about, was how she was going to tell him about Isaac.

"Alright," Newt said, settling down next to her on the couch.

For some reason she was suddenly nervous.

Newt looked straight at her. "What happened? Why are you here?"

"I died." He wasn't an idiot, why was he asking her?

Newt gave a grim smile at her short, obvious answer.

"Yes, I bloody surmised as much. But how did you die? You're immune to The Flare. I thought you'd be safe."

"Safe against the flare, but not bug bites, apparently." Newt's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Bug bites?"

"Yes. There was no cure to be found. We all moved into a paradise, this beautiful island together." She noticed that Newt's gaze was focused intently on her.

He looked sad at what she had said.

"It wasn't a paradise without you though, you know?" Her hand reached for his. He grabbed it and squeezed it tightly.

He cleared his throat and then nodded at her. "Go on."

"Well, I got bit by something. We're not sure what. And my body couldn't handle the venom. I got some sort of blood infection and I died."

He looked at her solemnly. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of Isaac. What was her little boy doing right now?

Newt cleared his throat. She had shown up at an orphanage.

What had happened to his son then?

"Is Isaac alright?" Amelia sat up suddenly, looking at Newt who just stared right back at her openly.

"Yes. How did you know about him?"

Newt sat with his head back against the top of the couch. He had got so much taller than she remembered. He easily towered over her now. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes and then sighed.

"I've been bloody stalking you for the past ten years."

"What are you talking about Newt?"

"There's a place here that you can glean images of loved ones left behind on earth. It's a dangerous place. A lot of people don't ever want to leave, so they just stay there, wasting away for eternity, wishing for things to change. But, if you have the willpower to go, you can come and go as you wish, seeing those that you left behind."

He gauged her reaction at what he said. Hope filled her eyes. Would she be able to watch her son grow up then?

Newt continued speaking. "I've been able to keep an eye on the two of you. I've been able to see a little bit of him as he's grown." He looked at her with remorse.

"I'm so sorry that I abandoned you. I should have stuck around and waited for a cure. I—" He broke off, his own voice breaking.

"Abandoned? You think getting The Flare and succumbing to it, and then getting yourself killed before you go crazy is abandoning us?" She looked at him incredulously. Had he really been suffering through the guilt, with the thought that he had abandoned his family and actually had a choice in the matter?

She continued. "No. You did the right thing. I have never regretted having him in my life. He's made me a much better person than I was before. I am sorry, though, you never had a chance to meet him."

He only shook his head in denial.

"Newt, can we go there together, to see him? I miss him so much already." Amelia felt her heart breaking. She put a hand over her chest, as if clutching her heart. Would she ever get the chance to have the two men in her life with her at the same time?

"Of course, in a few days. I usually go at least once a week."

"So you missed me so much that you couldn't go longer than a week without seeing what I was doing?" Amelia asked shyly.

Maybe talking about Isaac wasn't a great idea. Newt obviously felt tremendous guilt that he had never met his son before, even if it was out of his control.

Newt swallowed deeply. "Yes, so bloody much."

"I've missed you too. You know, at first I thought you might have moved on and found someone else." Newt made a strangled noise in the back of his throat; maybe a sound of exasperation?

He turned the tables on her quickly.

"What about you, Amelia? You could have easily done that. Found someone else to marry, that could provide for you and Isaac, to protect you."

Amelia made a noise of derision that matched the noise that Newt made earlier.

"I can't stomach the thought of another man. You were too much in those three weeks, you know."

"And now you know how I've felt about it. It's going to be alright, you know? We can watch Isaac as he grows, keep an eye on him. He's probably got Minho and Thomas looking out for him, right?" Amelia nodded.

"It's still not the same though."

"No. It's not. But remember, there are things that we can't control. He'll be strong and survive, because he's our son." Newt said.

He moved his hands out from behind his head, putting one arm around her waist and pulling her in toward him. He put the other hand around her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. He had wanted to do that since the moment he saw her standing behind Chuck.

It was gentle, yet hungry at the same time. He nipped at her bottom lip and she gave a gasp of surprise, opening her mouth, and allowing him to deepen the kiss. Her hands fingered through his shaggy blonde hair, attempting to pull him even closer. One of her hands dropped out of his hair, to the hemline of his shirt. She put her hand up under his shirt.

He felt her hand on his bare stomach up to his chest, running up and down, stroking him intently. He groaned and pulled away from her. He stopped her hand with his own and shot her a dirty glare.

"None of that," he said teasingly, fingering her long hair as he stared at her flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

She puffed out her cheeks in exasperation and blew out some air.

"Why not? It's been ten years and it's not like we're blushing virgins anymore."

"No. You took care of that when you bloody seduced me, didn't you?" Amelia waved her hand at his teasing words. He had a teasing grin on his face.

She had seduced him. Really? That wasn't how she remembered it. Wasn't he the one who began to kiss her everywhere that night?

She put her hands on his face and leaned in to kiss him. This time the kiss was quick and chaste.

"I want to be with you again."

"And I feel the same, but I believe I told you before that we did it backwards last time. This time we'll do it the proper way."

She looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about Newt?"

"Do you still want to marry me?"

She sat up suddenly and looked at him.

"People get married here?"

Newt cleared his throat with a slight blush on his cheeks and nodded.

"Yes. You know how you showed up in an orphanage right after you died?" She nodded quietly while looking at him in curiosity.

"Well, I showed up in a church during a bloody wedding ceremony."

She looked at him in surprise. "Why did you show up there?"

"Well, why did you show up at the orphanage? Most souls emerge from the forest. But others, like us, find themselves in different places after we pass on. Most people say it's because of a connection to the place, usually from your thoughts right before you died."

He put a tongue over his lips, moistening them and continued speaking.

"I remembering thinking about you when Tommy killed me, and I'm assuming that you were thinking about Isaac, and how he would be an orphan when you died."

She nodded solemnly at his statement. She couldn't hide anything from this man. And he wanted them to get married? They had never dated. To say that their relationship was unorthodox was probably an understatement, but it didn't change the fact that they cared very deeply for each other.

And they had stayed faithful to each other, over the course of their ten years apart.

And they had a wonderful son together.

Of course, she would marry him. Why wouldn't she? She couldn't ever imagine herself in a relationship anything close to what they had with each other.

"So, we're getting married tonight then, right?" Amelia asked, looking at him with what she hoped was a wide-eyed innocent look.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you still find me attractive even after all these years. I thought I'd get uglier in age, while you look even more beautiful than I remember."

She blushed at his words. He probably wouldn't feel that way when he saw her naked. Having a baby changed ones body quite a bit, and she was pretty sure that her currently dead body still had the stretch marks and softer tummy to prove it.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" He asked, pulling her face toward his, staring at her intently. "I still love you, you know. I don't think that there will be anything that could change that."

She bit her lower lip. "My body has changed quite a bit. I—" He put two fingers on her lips to silence her protests and then groaned when she slipped her tongue around them and pulled them into her mouth.

He shot her another dirty look, as if he was trying his best to behave and she was the one that was naughty.

Please.

"You're not helping me with my self-control, you know? I have half a mind to take you to my bed right now and have my way with you."

She felt a tremor run through her body, shivering in anticipation. She wouldn't mind that at all. She grinned at him.

"Bloody hell woman, I thought I was going to be the horny one!" He said, seeing the flushed cheeks on her face and the seductive pout of her lips.

This was too hard. How was he going to control himself when Amelia was planning on taking advantage of him right then and there?

Not that he'd complain about it or anything.

"We're getting married first." He said, standing up suddenly and trying to adjust his pants to be more comfortable. She watched his movement with a smirk. He blushed slightly at her look.

He cleared his throat noisily, trying to get her attention back onto his face and words.

"You're going to have to stay with the girls tonight."

"You're kicking me out?" She asked surprised and slightly offended. Hadn't they just reunited with each other?

"Don't bloody say it like that. I know Victoria and the other girls are going to want to interrogate you after seeing that hug we shared. And I know Alby and Nick will want to press me about how I know you. I also have to figure out a place where we can live together, if you're still okay with marrying me."

"Of course I am. Do you really believe that I would say any different?"

"I was hoping you'd still be okay with us getting married… But, we need to decide: Do we tell them about Isaac?"

Amelia bit her lip, feeling herself deflate a little bit.

She shook her head. "I don't think I'm ready for anyone to know about it yet…he's too precious, it would be too hard to talk about."

Newt nodded. "That's why nobody knew about either of you."

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. She looked up at him from the couch. Her hair, the braid she had was messy, with fringes of hair escaping from everywhere. Her cheeks were pink still, and her eyes were bright, but with a little sadness behind them. Her eyelashes were long and dark and her mouth was still as passionate as it was before.

Her body was much softer looking now. Petite still, but where she was mostly skin and bone before was now softer and fuller. She had filled out, with wider hips and slightly larger breasts, giving her more of a figure than she had before.

She had the curves of a woman who had borne a child; a mother.

He held out his hand to her and said, "Come on. Let's go find some dinner. And be prepared to get interrogated by everyone, because none of these shanks will mind their own bloody business."

* * *

><p>He led her out of his apartment, and down the hall.<p>

"Just so you know, we all eat dinner and breakfast together, for the most part. We have assignments for cooking and we all eat in the same apartment everyday. It's empty, so we use it as a place for all the food we collect and a dining area as well."

Amelia nodded in understanding at what Newt had said. It sounded a lot like what they did in the Glade, only it was the boys and girls (or now, men and women) coexisting together.

She walked close to Newt, not quite touching. For some reason, she really didn't want to show her affection for him in public. It just wasn't something that she was used to doing. She should get used to it though, especially since they would most likely be getting married soon.

She sighed at the thought. Although this afterlife wasn't "heaven", it definitely had it's perks.

The only person missing was their son.

Newt stopped at an apartment door. Amelia could smell something heavenly. She also heard what sounded like dozens of voices in the room as well. Newt looked at her with a smile.

"We don't have to eat to survive, but it still is nice to." He said, then opened the door for her and gestured for her to go in first. All the voices that she had heard talking were suddenly silent, looking at her with a clear expectation written on their faces.

It felt like she was naked under their gazes. She spotted a couple of other friends that she recognized, namely Teresa and Rachel. They gave small smiles and waves to her, and she waved back to them. She heard Newt's footsteps walk over toward her, and felt his hand on her back, almost possessively. He guided her over to the kitchen, where the food was laid out in a buffet style.

She felt her mouth watering, looking at the platters of roast chicken, green beans and bread. She felt a plate get pushed into her hands and followed Newt's lead as he loaded up his plate with food.

She then followed him as he led the way to a table, glancing back once at her to make sure she was following.

There were three long rectangular tables all set up, seating at least a dozen young adults at each table. Newt stopped at the middle one, toward the end, and put his plate down. He then pulled out the chair next to his, looking pointedly at Amelia, who smiled lightly back at him, put her plate down and sat down as he pushed the chair in for her.

"Thank you," she said quietly to Newt as he took his own seat.

"You're very welcome," he replied politely to her.

She began eating when she noticed that there was absolute silence surrounding the two of them. Newt shrugged his shoulders and began eating his dinner with renewed vigor, while Amelia, not used to the open stares, began just pushing her green beans around on the plate.

"You'd better eat that. You'll get hungry, soon enough." A deep voice said across from her. It was the same dark-skinned man that had yelled at Chuck when they intruded on the leaders meeting.

She only nodded, indicating that she had heard his words, and shifted uncomfortably.

"Ignore all these shanks, they're just stupid shuck-faces anyways. Klunk for brains, most of 'em." He then cleared his throat.

"I'm Alby, by the way." Amelia gave him a small smile.

"Amelia."

"Oh, I know." There was a curious look on his face as he said it, as though he was dying to ask questions, but he was more polite than that. Still, he was rather serious, and Amelia wasn't all that comfortable. Instead she looked to his right to see Chuck sitting there, grinning like a maniac.

He shook his head and said, "Triple L. I totally called it."

Amelia just looked at him in confusion when Newt said, "Slim it Chucky."

"I don't understand."

Alby, unexpectedly, laughed aloud. "Chuck's just going to be rubbing it in our faces for the next, I don't know, maybe ten years." He then looked at Newt curiously, who had already finished eating and was reaching for her roll when she put out her butter knife toward him.

"Don't touch my food Newt." She glared at him.

"Better eat it then. I'm still awfully hungry." Oh that look. The twinkle in his eye and the way that he said that he was still hungry.

He wasn't talking about food.

More silence from the adults surrounding them.

"Oh my God. Will you two please just get a room already?" Victoria asked, completed exasperated.

Nick looked on in amusement. "They were already in one earlier today."

Amelia looked down into her lap, feeling her face light up in embarrassment. Oh why oh why couldn't she have found him in private to begin with?

No, she had to see him as soon as possible. Dumb emotions.

She heard Newt clear his throat and felt him reach his hand down toward hers. He held onto her hand in her lap tightly.

"Victoria, Amelia will need a place to stay for a few nights. Do you have room?"

Victoria blinked in surprise.

"Sure, I jus thought..." Victoria looked up to see Amelia give her a small, pleading glance.

"Yeah, Amelia can stay with us, of course. We all have a lot to catch up on."

"Great, a slumber party for all the girls." Chuck said casually, "How come girls can have them and it's not considered gay?"

"Because, Chuck, guys don't get together just to talk." Teresa said, sitting down next to Amelia with a small smile.

"Of course, they probably will tonight." Rachel said, looking at Amelia with a smirk. She looked in between Amelia and Newt and raised her eyebrows in question.

Amelia just continued eating, not wanting to be engaged in too much conversation. She had an iron grip on Newt's hand though. It was if he was her anchor in their current environment, keeping her afloat. It was almost too much right now. How was she going to deal when they were separated tonight?

"So, Amelia," Nick started. She looked up at him. "Teresa told us she died when every one that was immune was rushing into the safe haven away from all the crazies. What happened since? Can you tell us?"

"Actually," Teresa said, "Back up. I remember you were with us in Denver and then you were gone. Tell us what happened from that point."

Amelia cleared her voice and with a soft squeeze on her hand from Newt, she began talking.

"I was in Denver with everyone else. I remember running down the street, and then suddenly I was waking up in the Maze again. Minho, Thomas, Teresa, Harriet and Sonya all led us out of the maze. And with the help of the Chancellor and a couple of others from WICKED, we entered the Flat Trans and made it into the safe haven. It's an island, separated from all the infected. We just lived our lives. Tilling the ground and growing crops; building shelter and forming our own new society. People started getting married and having children. It was very…normal compared to what we had been through before."

"Tell us about the gladers." Rachel said, quietly.

"Aris is married to Sonya. It took her forever to finally relent, I mean, he tried convincing her to date him for at least five years and she refused until just a few years ago." She gave a small laugh at the memory.

"Frypan married a girl that wasn't in the maze. Her name is Sarah. She's beautiful. They have three children together. She's a really good cook too. They cook together and provide all the food for the community."

"Thomas married Brenda, the girl from WICKED. They have a couple of kids also. And they're so annoying. I mean, the kids are cute enough, but they're always asking questions. 'Why this?' 'Why that?'"

She finished it off with a laugh remembering the look on Thomas' face when his younger son had asked where babies came from and why, exactly Brenda had to be the one that was pregnant. Why couldn't boys have babies also?

"And Minho?" Nick asked curiously. He recognized most of the names, even if he had never met them before, he had heard plenty of stories.

Amelia closed her eyes in exasperation.

"Don't even get me started on that bloody shank." She shook her head. What could she say about Minho?

"Minho considers himself a ladies man. He is in an off-again, on-again relationship with Harriet. Oh, does she play hard to get with him. It's hilarious watching those two interact. Like a chess match almost. Every time they get close, Minho tells Harriet that he won't marry her and he doesn't want kids, so she should just find someone else. And she usually does that. And then, he gets jealous, because he really does care about her, he just doesn't want to commit."

Laughter filled the room. Newt shook his head in exasperation as well.

"A ladies man? Really?" Nick asked. "Does he even know how to flirt with girls?"

"No. He's terrible at it, but he really does think he's good. It's actually sad how delusional he is about it all. He practiced with Thomas a few times, but Brenda and I would be left giggling so much that they had to stop. It was entertaining."

Smiles were exchanged around the table, listening to the stories of their friends.

"And what about you, Amelia? Did you do anything in particular in this so called paradise?"

"I tended the gardens. And I was a trained Med-jack, so I helped with a lot of first aid. Until I got sick, there was hardly any illnesses at all. I mostly just helped with the women in labor and childbirth."

"So you're like a trained midwife?"

This was getting into dangerous territory. Neither Newt or Amelia were ready to reveal Isaac to their friends yet.

But how else would Amelia explain how she knew about labor and childbirth?

"No. Ava Paige helped to train and help me. She was the chancellor of WICKED. But, she's the whole reason why we made it to the safe haven. I liked her a lot." Not the complete truth but close enough for now.

Nods were seen around the room at Amelia's words.

"Your experience as a midwife might be good in this city, Amelia." Alby said confidently, looking her over. He was surprised. He had no idea, at first, why Newt would be attracted to her. But after hearing her speak and hearing of some of her skills, he wasn't surprised.

She seemed independent and resourceful, with a good sense of humor, all things that Alby admired in people.

"What do you mean?"

"Newt didn't tell you?" Alby asked, looking at Newt, who he noticed wasn't looking at anyone in particular but gazing at the wall with an impassive face.

"Probably too busy to talk," she heard a whisper around the table and saw Newt give a glare down the table where she had heard the remark come from.

"So, our bodies," Nick started, looking at Amelia, "They're just like our bodies on earth, only a little more durable. It's hard to die a second death here. We don't know what would happen after that. But, this world, can be just like our life on earth before. People here can conceive and have children. I don't think it happens as often as it does on earth, but there are enough young children around that we know it does happen."

"Oh," she said softly, taking in the comment. "Interesting enough."

"So, what do you say? You willing to help some women have babies if they need it?"

Amelia sat up a little straighter. "Um…I guess so. We would need a sterile, clean place to do it though."

"We have a couple of rooms like that downstairs. We'll just let people know if they need help they can come here. You don't seem to mind helping others, do you?"

Amelia looked at Alby squarely in the eye, and said, "No, not at all."

"Good that. You'll fit in well here, then. We have work to do. It's no good just sitting around and doing nothing, don't you agree?"

She nodded quietly, and continued eating as the people around her kept talking cheerfully. She was thinking hard at the information she had just learned.

They could have children here. Did he just forget to tell her? Is that why he wanted to hold off until they were married?

Because there was always the chance she could get pregnant again?

She didn't ever, in her wildest dreams, believe that there was a chance that she and Newt could have more children together.

It was so strange.

She had let go of Newt's hand while she ate. She felt him staring at her.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly.

She looked at him with a soft smile.

"I will be, I think. It's just a lot to take in."

"It is. I'll be here for you though. If you need me tonight, you can come back to my apartment at any time, alright?"

She only nodded as she ate her now cold chicken.

They sat in silence for the rest of the dinner.

* * *

><p>Alby watched as Amelia said good-bye to Newt as she left with Victoria practically dragging her from the room. Amelia gave one last pleading glance at Newt, as he waved good-bye to her.<p>

It was interesting. Seeing Newt come in to dinner with Amelia, he looked lighter on his feet than they had seen in the last eight years.

And then, Newt's eyes were slightly sad as he said good-bye to her. Alby wondered if it was worth liking someone that much if that is what they did to you.

They all cleaned up quickly and Alby, along with Nick, Newt, Winston, Chuck, Ben, Jeff, Clint and a few others went back to Newt and Alby's place to interrogate Newt on the subject of Amelia and his relationship with her.

Once they had all settled, Nick turned to Newt and pointed at him, saying, "Alright spill."

"Are we really going to be a bunch of girls?" Newt asked, trying to deflect the question. He wasn't sure how many of them could even begin to understand his relationship with Amelia.

"She's your Lost Lady Love, isn't she?" Chuck asked. Of all the men in the room with him, Newt figured Chuck probably had the most romantic heart.

"Yes." Newt said quietly, not quite making eye contact with everyone else around the room.

"Why didn't you tell us, shank?" Nick asked. Now they knew why Newt went out into the Forest at least once a week. He wanted, no needed, to check on the girl that he had left behind.

Newt shrugged his shoulders, not giving an answer. That wasn't the question he wanted to hear. All of his friends knew that he had been "off", not the same as he was before. He didn't want to try and explain his relationship with Amelia. He shouldn't have to, to him it was self-explanatory and very simple.

He was in love with Amelia when they were alive on earth.

He still was in love with Amelia.

And they would always be together.

"Newt," Alby said, looking at him, "It's alright if you like the girl. You could have just told us you were stalking her." Newt gave a mocking smile, and a dirty glare as the rest of the room laughed. As much as they wanted to keep it quiet that Newt was off in that forest quite often, everybody knew about it.

"You can't just skip out on meetings though, man. We need you." Newt nodded. He had a feeling the rebuke would be coming, he was one of their leaders after all.

"Fine," Newt said, sighing. "But I want a few days off, starting the day after tomorrow. And Amelia goes with me on nightly rounds, whenever it's my turn."

"One day off, that's all you need. And alright, she can go with you on the nightly rounds when you have them, but you get to take someone else with you. I can't have the two of you going off and getting distracted." Alby countered Newt's original offer. Nick nodded in agreement at Alby's assessment.

"No. One day isn't enough. Give me at least three. And I promise, I'll be more focused than I would be if you made me just work through everything."

"Damn, Newt. What the hell is the matter with you? Can you think with your brain at all? With all the klunk that is starting to go down here? All of the missing people and food shortages? You need to get three days off so you can bang your girl? That's a little selfish man."

Newt clenched his fists. He was still awfully protective of Amelia. He didn't like hearing her spoken of that way.

"Slim it...We are getting married, you stupid slint-head. I need to find a place for us to live together, and then we'll need a couple of days to get settled, understand me?"

Silence fell over the room.

"Why in the hell are you getting married? That's stupid man."

Newt shook his head at the guys surrounding him. "You're all bloody idiots, you wouldn't understand."

"Why is it such a big deal? Why wouldn't they get married?" A quiet voice asked Nick and Alby. It was Chuck. Everyone, including Newt stared at him. He was usually quiet when the guys got together like this.

"I mean, Amelia seems like a nice enough girl and Newt's crazy about her. And if they knew each other before, what's the big deal?"

Newt gave Chuck a grateful smile. He had been by far the youngest to die, and sometimes held more wisdom than they all realized.

It was Nick who spoke next, sighing.

"There's a couple of apartments that are empty still. You and Amelia can take one of those. You can have two days off. Plus, I want her to get used to everyone here, not just you."

Newt nodded at him gratefully. "Thank you."

"Well, you would have done it whether we gave you permission or not. I can tell that she is someone important to you. I feel like you're still holding something back though, Newt. We're here for you shank."

Newt only nodded as heard Alby's statement. It still wasn't the right time to tell them about his son.

"Alright," Nick said after the quiet pause, "Impromptu bachelor party. Someone go get the cards and chips. Let's play some poker."

* * *

><p>"So," Victoria said, sitting down next to Amelia while Teresa, Rachel, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Katherine all sat down around her, staring avidly.<p>

Amelia tried to appear nonchalant. This was not going to be fun. Newt had said she needed to be ready for an interrogation, and that was exactly what was going down.

She sighed in exasperation and decided to just give in. She couldn't take the silent stares of expectation any longer.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

The questions came in a flurry, all at once.

"When did you meet him?"

"Is he your boyfriend?"

"Have you slept together?"

"Are you the reason why he's been so depressed?"

Amelia heard that last question and shook herself out of her reverie.

"He's been depressed?" She asked, concerned at what they were saying. It was Teresa who had asked, which made sense. She was the only one here of the girls, besides Amelia that knew him on earth.

Teresa nodded. "The closest that I've seen him as he was on earth was tonight at dinner, especially with the teasing. I mean, he was always polite, as usual, but you could tell that he wasn't all there either, you know?"

He seemed fine to her this afternoon and evening in the short couple of hours they had together, just a little solemn when they spoke of Isaac.

"So," Rachel asked, looking at her in curiosity. Rachel had dark red curly hair that was always messy. It was usually pulled back in a bun. She remembered when Rachel had been sent up in the box. She had liked her to begin with, even if she was more curious than the rest of the girls that had come up.

"How did you guys meet?"

"During the Scorch Trials. You know about those, right?" Nods around the room.

"Well, we met during the end of those. And then we were placed together in a third trial at WICKED's headquarters for about three weeks."

Teresa gasped in surprise. "You guys were together for your third trial?"

Amelia nodded. "We knew each other before they took our memories, and we were pretty close. They wanted to see if my presence helped to slow The Flare from spreading in Newt's brain. And, well, we just got even closer." She finished her statement with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Oh wow. You guys have totally slept together, huh?" Victoria said, with a laugh, looking at her former best friend in a new light. Amelia was so quiet and shy at times, but she had already had sex... when she was a teenager. It was almost too much.

Amelia felt her face turning bright red.

"He was your first, then?" Kate asked, with a small smile.

"Um..."

"Look at that face! Poor Amelia. I bet he's been her only one as well. You guys did see how they reunited with each other, right?" Elizabeth chimed in, trying to help Amelia out. Like Amelia was someone that would sleep around. Of course, it had been ten years for the both of them.

Amelia was trying to regain some of her dignity. "Why would you just assume that we slept together?"

"Because, a boy and a girl, both teenagers, together sharing close living space, after only living with their own gender for about three years. Yeah, you guys totally sexed it up."

"Kate!" Amelia said, feeling her face brighten up even more. She should have figured it was Kate that would put it like that. She was always more outspoken than others and often didn't filter what came from her mind to her mouth. She just blurted it out.

"Plus, you can tell that you guys were close Amelia. I saw the way that he touched you when he first saw you. And I saw his face as he recognized you." Victoria said, looking at her, trying to make her feel better, "It's obvious that he's mad about you. So, how do you feel about him?"

Oh dear. What a loaded question. How could she answer that?

"I would do anything I could to make him happy." Amelia found herself answering, surprised at herself. But, that was really what it was all about. Sure, she got the benefit of his company, but more than anything, she only found herself wanting to make him smile and laugh. And, she never wanted to disappoint him.

The girls all looked at her with their mouths opened wide.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" They said in unison, hearing Amelia's declaration.

"Well," Teresa said with a small smile, "That seals the deal. You are completely smitten with him."

"What's next for you two? Are you guys going to move in together?"

She nodded slightly.

"He mentioned that he wanted to find a place for us to live together."

"That should be easy enough," Charlotte said, "there are plenty of empty apartments here. They'll find a spot for you two."

"What about you guys?" Amelia asked, trying to deflect attention off of herself.

They looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, there is a bit of a no-sleeping together policy going on here."

"Nick and Alby just don't want any awkwardness coming up between all of us while there's still work to be done."

"You guys can't date?"

"Oh, we can date. But there's a curfew in place, to prevent us from spending the night at each other's places."

Rachel then said, "That can be worked around though."

Some jeering was heard from the other girls.

"Did it hurt, Amelia?"

Amelia's face flared up at the innocent question. She should have figured a couple of them would still be virgins.

She wasn't sure how to answer the question, without turning the girls off the idea of sex completely.

"It does. But, it gets better. And, sex isn't just a physical thing you know. If you focus on your partner and your emotions, well, it's pretty amazing."

Jaws dropped at her statement.

"How often did you and Newt sleep with each other, Amelia? Geez, I was just joking you know?" Kate said with her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Amelia bit her lip and said, "That's none of your business." And then turned her face away.

She cleared her throat.

"That's enough about me. What have you all been up to the last ten years?"

That night, the girls stayed up late, talking about their friendships, crushes and the work they had been up to the last decade.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Amelia darted out of the apartment before any of the other girls were ready to go to breakfast. Elizabeth, who was close to Amelia in size, had given her some clothes. She wore a cream t-shirt that fit a bit snugger than what Amelia was used to. She also wore a pair of brown, cotton capris.<p>

She found Newt, just outside the door, nonchalantly looking around.

He gave her a large smile as he saw her. She just walked up to him and went up on her tiptoes, giving him a kiss.

"Good morning to you too," he said happy with her greeting.

"You're never doing that again."

"What?"

"Leaving me with a half a dozen girls who have never been in a relationship before."

He grinned at her thought.

"So you heard about the rules."

"Yes... There's some more that you need to fill me in on here, you know. By the way, is that why we're getting married right away?"

"Yes. Tomorrow, is that alright?"

Amelia glanced at him with a small smile.

She gave a mock sigh and said, "I guess."

"You'll be stuck with me forever. Think you can handle that?"

"I'll just have to do my best, I suppose."

She then gave him a playful smile, and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He then walked her down the hallway to breakfast.

* * *

><p>To Be Continued<p>

Authors Note: I know Isaac isn't talked about much, but he has a huge part in this story. They don't like talking about him yet, even though they both love him deeply (especially Amelia, who raised him for 9+ years), it is something that they're not ready to bring up to anyone else yet...or really to talk about too much themselves. And, Newt, if you haven't been able to infer from the reading, was able to watch him and Amelia a little bit after he died.

There is a mystery/plot in the background of all of this. It will come to light, but I am as a writer, aware that my strengths lie in dialogue and character development more than writing action/adventure and heavy plot stuff. So while there will be an overall mystery, the focus is on the characters more than anything else.

One last note-I wrote in this chapter how their bodies have changed. In 'As the Sun Rises', Amelia is thin and short, probably around 5'3" or 5'4" with quite a bit of lean muscle because of her lifestyle in the glade. Newt in that story is quite a bit taller than her, probably around 5'10" or 5'9". He's now around 6'0. I love height differences. (I'm only 5'0" and my husband is around 5'11"). As for Amelia, she is still pretty skinny, since she stayed pretty active in the safe haven. But, she is softer with wider curves from having a child. I don't care what anyone says, I have three kids and after having children your body, for even the thinnest of people, usually changes a bit.

Anyways, hope you're enjoying it so far. We'll get into more of the details of the world and the action next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3—Intuition

Amelia lay on a bed, basking in the afterglow of what could only be described as a good night. The morning sun was shining through the window. She could feel the slight warmth hitting her bare skin. Newt lay next to her, still fast asleep with the blankets pulled up to his chin. He got cold easily, especially in the mornings.

She recalled fondly when they lived in the apartment together on earth, that he would often be found curled up as close to her as possible in the mornings, usually wrapping his legs and feet within her own, trying to find some warmth.

She stared at his handsome face. It was amazing how much more peaceful someone looked when they were asleep. The few lines that had begun to show around his eyes were completely smooth.

He looked 17 again.

She did feel a little weird, just staring at him though.

Here she was, staring at her husband. Husband;now that would take some getting used to. They had been married just the day before, in a very quiet ceremony at a local church. It was the same church that Newt had found himself in when he first arrived ten years ago. The priest was a friend of Newt's, the person who had taken him aside and explained to him how the world here worked; the same person that kept Newt alive for his first two years with his generosity and kindness.

He introduced Amelia to the priest, Father Richards and told him that they wanted to get married. The older gentleman, who appeared to be in his mid-fifties (by far the oldest person Amelia had yet to see in this new, strange world) only smiled and nodded approvingly at her, saying that he had heard much about her and although it was a shame her life had been shortened on earth, he was glad that Newt had her in his life once again.

It was a small, quiet and short ceremony with only Victoria and Nick the witnesses. Amelia said she didn't want many people, only Victoria, her best girl friend from the Glade would be fine. Newt had told her that he would have Nick come with her then.

When Amelia questioned why he didn't ask Alby to come, Newt only shrugged his shoulders and said, "Nick and Victoria are always together. It's been like that for a long time now. I'm pretty sure that Nick might be breaking his rules to be with her. Or, if not, they'll probably change those rules pretty quickly. Plus, I'm not sure Alby would want to come. He doesn't trust you yet."

Amelia only looked slightly stunned at both bits of news. The news that her best friend from the glade was practically in a relationship with Nick, and the bit of news that Alby didn't like her yet.

That was rude.

The ceremony was very short, thankfully, with traditional vows recited.

Newt was dressed in a nicer pair of black pants and a button up blue shirt. Amelia wore a cream sun dress that she had borrowed from Elizabeth. It fell to her knees, and flowed away from her hips. The neckline was modest, and there were no sleeves, but it was a very tasteful. She wore her hair half up and half down, the ends of her now much longer hair curling slightly in the humidity of the city.

Newt kissed her, quickly and chastely and pulled away from her with a beaming smile on his face. It was contagious and she couldn't help but return the smile with equal enthusiasm.

After being separated for a little more than a decade, they were married.

Nick and Victoria cheered for the two of them, and signed the paperwork, declaring themselves as witnesses. Amelia found it odd how formal things could still be here, especially since they were all dead.

Apparently life didn't end after death. It really was just the beginning.

The rest of the Gladers used the excuse of Amelia and Newt getting married to have a huge feast, topped off with a cake and some alcohol. Both Newt and Amelia excused themselves from the alcohol after the first sip. Neither could stomach it too much after that. They did have a great time watching the rest of the Gladers enjoy the alcohol.

There was Victoria and Nick, sitting quietly in the corner, making out with each other.

Chuck was laughing a little too loudly at a joke that Charlotte had told, with his hand on her arm.

Rachel and Teresa were doing a drinking game against each other, both taking turns with shots.

Alby watched it all with a slight frown on his face. Amelia was still awfully uncomfortable when Alby came around. He was extremely intimidating. Newt respected him a lot though. And she remembered, that Alby was the one who found Newt in the maze after he had tried to commit suicide.

It was only because of Alby that she had even met Newt to begin with. She resolved in that moment, that she wouldn't be too judgmental and try to earn his respect and trust.

They sneaked off rather quickly after that, hoping that nobody would notice them with all the festivities and drinking going on. He led her to their first formal home together, and led her inside.

Amelia smiled fondly in bed as she touched Newt's face gently with her hand, stroking his soft cheek. They completely belonged together. It was official.

He had admitted that one of the reasons for him wanting to marry her so fast, was so that everyone in this world knew exactly where they stood with their relationship.

She recalled last night with a smile again. He had taken her into their apartment, and made her walk back out almost immediately, insisting on carrying her over the threshold.

It was a three bedroom apartment, one of the larger ones. She wasn't sure how he managed to get his hands on it. It was minimally furnished, like most of them, with only a few things here or there. Their clothes and other belongings had already been moved over before their wedding. The kitchen held only minimal supplies since they would still eat with the rest of their friends for their meals.

She thought of the kisses, touches, and soft moans as they made love again for the first time in ten years; the way that he had taken everything so frustratingly slow, telling her that there would be plenty of opportunities more for them to rush.

It was everything that she remembered before, except much better than a cold memory.

She shifted in bed, sighing. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to think about when she would be able to be with Newt again. He was here, and they would always be together. He had promised her that, vowed to make her happy and she did the same.

She looked back over at Newt to see his eyes open, staring at her with a smirk, his eyes still looking sleepy.

She felt herself blushing once again. How long had he been awake? And how was it that he could still make her blush like that?

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, running a finger, up and down her bare shoulder and arm. She squirmed at his touch.

"Does that bother you?" He asked huskily, moving himself closer to her, and sitting up right next to her. The sheet fell off his torso, exposing his stomach and chest completely to her gaze. Her eyes darted to him, looking at his face and body. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She returned the kiss, putting her arms around his neck. She felt his hands remove the sheet that was over her own body, exposing her chest to the cold air. She felt his hand move over her stomach and up to her breast and she broke off the kiss, looking away from him suddenly with a slight frown.

She was so lost in her feelings and thoughts last night, but this morning she remembered how different her body was now. She sighed as he touched her.

He pulled her face toward his. He looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

She didn't want to make him worry. What was wrong with her?

"What's wrong?"

Amelia looked away, not sure what to say. She was still insecure about her body, but he didn't seem to mind at all, from what she remembered of the night before.

"Come on, Amelia. You can't bloody shut me out. If there's something I've done wrong already you need to tell me. I will bloody tell you, you know. This is going to work between us, have no doubts about that. "

She sighed once again, looking at him thoughtfully. She put her hands on his cheeks, and leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips. She gave him a small smile, hoping to distract him. He was still staring at her seriously. She sighed as she realized he would make her tell him.

"You've done nothing wrong. I guess I was just worried that you wouldn't be all that attracted to me anymore."

He furrowed his eyebrows even further, staring at her face with a bemused look that also showed confusion.

She watched as his eyes dropped to her breasts and stomach and then flitted back to her face.

He looked confused still and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't understand. Everything seems right and proper."

"My body is just so different now..."

Newt nodded at her statement. She was right. Her body had changed, but it had also been ten years. That was to be expected, wasn't it? She was also pregnant for nine months as well. He realized what she was saying. That was it. She needed the comfort and reassurance that he still loved her.

"Because of your pregnancy?" He asked with patience, softly stroking her arm, looking once more at her body. He didn't see a problem at all with how her body had changed.

She only nodded, feeling stupid that she cared so much about how he felt about her physical body. She hadn't cared since she had Isaac what she looked like, as long as she could keep up with him and do her part in the community.

"Well, I do like that these are larger." He lightly touched her breasts, tracing circles on them. He leaned down and gave a soft kiss on the top of each one. She shuddered underneath him.

"And you're a little softer, I suppose. But that's alright because you're more comfortable as well. I bet Isaac loved to fall asleep next to you." She smiled at his remark. Isaac did love coming up to her, laying his head in her lap. Until he was 7, he would often fall asleep with his head in her lap, as she brushed his dark blonde hair with her fingers.

"And these," his hands reached her lower stomach where pink lines adorned her flat stomach. He used his index finger to trace each of the pink lines from top to bottom. "These are marks of your motherhood, like battle scars. You should be proud."

She looked at him and shook her head. He gazed back at her fondly and said, "You know, I didn't realize that you were pregnant until your belly was quite large. I remember going to see you, it had been a week or so since the last time. You popped over night or at least over just a week. I thought your breasts looked a little bigger but nothing really clicked until I saw you pick something up and I saw your belly. You were holding a basket of carrots in the garden, I'm assuming your harvest from that season." He laughed. "The basket was practically balanced on your stomach."

He continued speaking, "I remember feeling shocked. At first I thought that maybe you had found someone else, but when I did some math in my head, I realized that it was my child you were carrying." He shook his head at her, brushing his fingertips over her face, her cheeks, her lips. "I was so happy, Amelia, but a little sad as well, knowing I wouldn't get to meet him or hold him. I know I will now, whenever he passes from earth, but it's not the same, like you said earlier."

He sighed as he looked her over.

"Women are amazing, far more than men, in my opinion. I was only present at the conception of Isaac, but you carried him for nine months and kept him safe in your womb and then you went through so much pain to bring him into this world. And you kept him safe and raised him on your own up until you died yourself. You did the job of two parents, and were magnificent. Believe, me, love, when I tell you that you are even more beautiful to me than you were then. And my love for you has only increased."

Her heart raced as she looked at him. He was so good with his words. She knew exactly how he felt.

She felt the same way.

Here was the person that had given her Isaac, who was her life when she wanted to fade away at times. She never would have had Isaac without her love and devotion for Newt.

She kissed him softly, feeling his lips move against her. She allowed herself to be softly pulled down completely on the bed, with Newt hovering over her. She gave in to his touches and kisses without any more protest.

* * *

><p>They laid together in bed still a couple of hours later, holding each other. They had dozed back to sleep after the morning's earlier activities, and now they were awake, delaying getting dressed and something to eat. It was just too easy to lose themselves in the calming presence of the other.<p>

It seemed so long since they had been with each other, she almost forgot what it felt like to be complete.

Amelia sighed and turned, facing Newt who had been spooning against her.

"I'm hungry." Newt raised his eyebrows at her statement and smirked, hearing her stomach growl.

"Well, we did burn some calories. You should probably eat or you might waste away."

She nodded her head at him. She wanted to tell him something that she had on her mind for the last ten years. Something that she yearned for since she had Isaac all those years ago.

"Newt," she said hesitantly. He looked at her in question and answered with some teasing. He moved his hands to just under her rib cage on her right side, softly pushing his fingers against his skin. She tensed and started to giggle, laughing at him finding one of her tickle spots. He grinned as he heard her laughter. He loved hearing her so happy and light.

"Yes, Amelia?"

"I'd like us to have more children. To have a baby."

Newt blinked at her statement, taken aback suddenly. "Really?"

"Or not," Amelia said, feeling herself melt back under the covers, embarrassed at her forwardness in bringing up the topic so quickly after they had just been reunited.

He noticed her shy remission, and sighed. He kicked himself internally for responding the way he did. He didn't mean to reply like that, it was just one of those moments that his mouth just automatically responded without him really thinking it through.

He pulled the blanket off of her face.

"Don't misunderstand me, Amelia. I was just surprised, although I don't know why. I love the idea of a family. You should know that."

She blushed at his words.

"So you wouldn't mind having more children?"

"Of course not. Didn't I tell you we'd have at least a dozen? Plus, making them is always fun." He chuckled softly, moving a stray hair off of her forehead. Her hair was so much longer now. It was constantly in her face. There had been a couple of times that it had smacked him in his own face as well.

"Plus," Newt added looking at her, "I'm not the one whose body carries the child, so you get the last word on how many."

She smiled at his statement. She felt herself blurting out what had been weighing so heavily on her mind though.

"But I feel bad about it. I want more children. What if we forget Isaac though?"

"You won't forget Isaac, Amelia." He was looking at her with strained patience, with a sigh.

"I think you underestimate your capacity to love. A human's capacity to love. Did you forget about me when you had Isaac?"

"No, but our relationship is completely different."

"There are different kinds of love, but our love would just increase for any more children that we have. There is no way we could forget our son." He looked at her and smiled, while continuing with his thoughts.

"You're in luck, Amelia. There aren't any real forms of birth control here besides abstinence. I don't know how long it will take though."

He opened his arms for her as he lay on his back. She smiled as she put her head on his chest, snuggling into his bare skin and breathing him in. She felt his hand in her hair. She sighed softly, content.

They sat there for about ten more minutes when a loud knock came at the door.

Newt groaned in frustration.

"Oh, bloody hell. I told them to bugger off for the day."

He turned his body to his side, buried his face into Amelia's bare shoulder and then put a pillow over his head.

"Come on, Newt! Open up!" They could hear Nick's muffled voice against the door, banging as loud as he could.

"Just ignore them. The bloody shanks can just come back tomorrow. They can do without us for a bloody day."

"I can't help her Amelia! I need you to show me." That was Victoria's voice.

Newt sat up, staring at Amelia and gave a long-suffering sigh.

"If this is a joke, I will bloody kill them."

It was no use. Amelia was up as soon as she heard Victoria's voice.

Newt watched her as she searched her side of the bed looking for some clothes to wear. He watched her shimmy her clothes on. She was pulling her shirt over her body when he finally gave a sigh of defeat and sat up himself, finding his own clothes, resigned to the fact that she was leaving. He might as well go with her.

She turned and smirked at him. He watched as she pulled her hair (which now reached down to her mid-back) into a messy pony tail. No more bed hair, but it still looked awfully messy.

Good that, he thought to himself.

She gave him a small kiss as he started to pull his own shirt over his head and walked out of the room. She unlocked the door, that was still getting banged on continually.

"What's wrong?" Amelia said, finding herself face to face with Victoria, Nick and Alby.

Alby and Nick looked slightly uncomfortable, while Victoria looked a bit freaked out.

"It's pretty bad, Amelia. There's a woman downstairs. She's obviously pregnant." Victoria paused as she noticed Newt step up behind Amelia, taking in his disheveled appearance, obviously displeased that they were going to take his wife away from him less than a day after they were married.

"What's wrong then?" Amelia asked, stepping out of the apartment and into the hall. Newt followed her out, closing the door behind them.

"She was attacked, in the middle of the day. Someone came up to her, and saying something about needing the child. They took a knife to her, you know. It's" Victoria swallowed deeply, "It's bad. I don't know what to do. I can't get any information out of her. She's just in there with Chuck right now. He's got such a soothing presence. He's trying to find out as much as he can."

"The bleeding?" Amelia looked concern while looking at Victoria, and trying to analyze the situation.

"Not too bad. She's lost blood, but not too much where she needs a transfusion."

"Do we have blood like that, for transfusions?" Amelia was taken aback slightly at the idea of trying to do a transfusion herself.

Victoria shook her head. "There are other places around here, kind of like hospitals that we would need to take her to."

Amelia scowled in frustration. She was so comfortable in bed. It didn't seem like the girl was in that much trouble.

"Just patch up her wounds then. If they're not so deep that she's losing blood, she'll be fine."

Newt brightened up considerably at Amelia's statement and nodded approvingly, agreeing with Amelia. He brought his hand forward to her elbow to guide her back to their apartment.

"No, I think the attack put her into labor. She's complaining about pain in her stomach." Victoria said, looking a little uncomfortable herself. She could tell that all Newt wanted to do was have Amelia to himself, but Victoria didn't know how to help a woman in labor.

Amelia nodded in understanding at Victoria's statement.

"Well, I guess I'd better go and see her then."

She raced down the stairs behind the rest of them in silence, followed by Newt, who was once again in a slightly glum mood.

Victoria opened the door and Amelia followed her in. She turned to face the three men who were beginning to follow her in to the exam room that they had all set up. She put up a hand to stop them.

"I'm going to stop you guys right here. She might feel more comfortable talking to us first. After I make sure she's okay, I'll let you in."

"No, we need more information about her attacker. There's been a lot of strange things happening lately. We need every piece of information we can get to solve this puzzle."

Amelia glared at Alby. "Is the person or the information more important, oh great leader?"

And with that question, she slammed the door in his face.

Nick and Newt glanced at each other and tried not to smile.

"Nice girl you have there Newt," Nick said with a smirk, laughing at the exchange between Amelia and Alby. Amelia didn't look like much, but she definitely had a spirit to be reckoned with. Nick had automatically liked Amelia to begin with, considering how Victoria had first embraced her. If Victoria liked and trusted Amelia, then she was a good person.

And then, when he saw the way that Newt, one of his best friends, react when he saw her, he was completely shocked and surprised. If Newt held her in such high esteem, then there was no doubt that she was trustworthy and kind

"Actually, my wife, thank you very much, shank." Alby looked over at Newt's words.

Newt had bad bed hair, Alby thought before anything else.

Even if they weren't married, they would know exactly what Newt and Amelia had been up to the last few hours. Alby winced at the thought. There were some things that needed to stay private.

Alby turned a blind eye to Nick and Victoria half the time because it didn't effect their work, but he had a feeling that would change soon.

"I still can't believe you're married," Alby said, thinking over Amelia's words. She was right. And he had to admire her for not backing down and dishing it right back at him.

"Well, I've considered myself to be married to her for a while now. We only just made it official for the rest of this bloody world." Newt said, leaning back against the wall.

"Really?" Nick asked, "How did you know? How did you know you wanted to be with her so permanently?"

"She's bloody amazing, that's why. And, she doesn't mind me at all, at least most of the time. I'm a lucky bastard, I am."

Nick shook his head in confusion, trying to make sense of his own thoughts.

"Come on, Nick. How do you feel when you're around Victoria? Does she make you want to be a better man? That's how I feel around Amelia. I want to be my very best for her."

Newt nodded at him and continued. "I would have married her when we were alive, if we had the chance."

Alby just shook his head. Newt was totally smitten with her. He didn't stand a chance. Alby would need to make sure that nobody got into his pants or mind that way. Newt would probably give Amelia anything she wanted, just to make her happy.

* * *

><p>Inside the room, Amelia approached the young woman.<p>

"Hi," Amelia said, with what she hoped was a soothing voice. "My name is Amelia. I want to take a look at your belly, to make sure that the baby is okay. Is that alright?"

The young woman in front of her was pale, with dark hair that hung loosely around her face. She was rather skinny, and looked very young, like a teenager. She may have been younger than Amelia was when she had Isaac.

Amelia tried to push the thoughts of her son away as she heard Victoria's footsteps behind her.

"Chuck," Amelia said, looking at the young man with curly hair. He had a hard time looking at her at the moment, almost embarrassed.

Oh that poor boy. He was a virgin still, she could tell. He was having a hard time with the idea that she and Newt were married. There was no speculation as to whether Newt and Amelia slept with each other now.

They were married, it was almost expected of them.

He was looking uncomfortable.

"Why don't you go outside? This young lady could use some food." She heard her own stomach growl. "I could too, actually. Maybe Newt can get some food for me?" Chuck turned to leave, ready to dart out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Chuck, can you please make sure that Newt gets something to eat as well?"

"Sure Amelia," he said softly, with a shy smile, grateful that she hadn't teased him about his embarrassment.

Amelia fiddled over at the medical table, pulling open a drawer. She found her measuring tape, and indicated to the young lady to lay on the table.

"What's your name?" She asked quietly with a small smile. Victoria stood to the side, watching Amelia work. She didn't know how to help anyone pregnant. It was decided that she and Amelia would work together. At the moment, she was just supposed to take in everything that Amelia did to treat any of the women that came to them for help.

"Ann."

"Nice to meet you, Ann. I'm going to ask you a few questions. Right now, though, I am going to pull up your shirt and measure your uterus to try and estimate how much longer you have."

Amelia pulled the shirt up to her chest, slowly dabbing the small cuts on her stomach with some light disinfectant and gauze, confused.

"You were attacked? What happened?"

"Yes, he was just making some slashing motions against my stomach. I ran off as fast as I could. I don't understand." Amelia examined the cuts. They were small, shallow cuts that weren't deep at all. They appeared to be healing over already. She remembered what Alby had told her about the enhanced durability of their bodies in this world.

Amelia squinted her eyes, looking closer. There was a pattern to the slashes, cut methodically into the young woman's stomach.

"It looks like letters." Victoria said, coming over. Amelia just shrugged her shoulders and unrolled the measuring tape.

She found the top of Ann's pubic bone, and pulled the measuring tape over her stomach to the top of her uterus and pressed down firmly, looking at the length in centimeters.

32.

"It looks like you still have at least another month or two to go. Everything is healing over well. If you have any tightening or pain," she said, motioning over her own stomach, "that comes and goes, about every 5 minutes for longer than an hour, you're in active labor. Come here and we can help you."

Amelia noticed Ann wasn't paying attention to her, but to Victoria instead, who was examining the slashes in deep concentration.

She was writing something down on her notepad.

"It's a name. Weird." Victoria said, analyzing the cuts with an intense look.

"How did you get that?"

"It's sideways, and hidden in other random slashes."

Ann glanced at Amelia, and then stared down at her hands quickly.

Amelia gave a small frown.

"What?" Amelia asked, directing her question toward Ann.

Ann shook her head, looking away.

"Thank you, for all your help. I'm feeling better now." She stood up quickly and moved toward the door to leave.

Everything about her body language struck Amelia as suspicious.

"Wait," Amelia said.

Maybe she should have made Alby come in with her. There was something more that was going on. All of Amelia's instincts were on edge-there was something wrong, something that this girl was hiding.

"Victoria?" Amelia said, keeping her eyes on Ann. "Let the guys in, please. They have some questions for you, Ann."

Victoria opened the door, to find only Nick looking at them.

"Alby had to drag Newt up for some lunch." He said, answering the question plastered all over Victoria's face.

Amelia's whole body was tense looking at Ann, who had her shirt pulled over her large, swollen stomach.

Ann was avoiding her gaze.

"What really happened?" She asked Ann quietly. "If you tried to run away and fought your attacker, his cuts wouldn't have been so precise."

Ann just stared at her, not speaking.

"What's this about?" Nick asked quietly, looking between the small wispy teenager and Amelia, who looked tense.

"I'm not sure. But, this young woman..."

Ann bit her lip, not wanting to give away any information. The man had threatened her and the child, after all.

"Can you read what the marks say?" Nick asked curiously.

"I wrote it down. It was backwards and sideways on her stomach, but it is pretty clear." Victoria handed him the notepad where she wrote down the pattern while Amelia had examined Ann's stomach to make sure the baby was fine.

"Isaac?" Nick asked, looking at the notepad curiously. "Any significance there for you, Victoria? Amelia?"

Amelia felt all the blood in her face drain.

Isaac...

Isaac...

Isaac...

How could it be that a young woman, whom she had never met before, had her son's name etched in her stomach?

It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

She had only been dead, in this world for four days now. And it's not like they had told anyone about Isaac.

Plus, Isaac wasn't that rare of a name.

Common sense told her that it was only a coincidence, a random event. But there was something else that was bothering Amelia.

Her instincts were ripe with tension. That intuition told her that this wasn't a random act of fate.

This feeling was malicious.

This was a warning, a taunt toward Amelia and Newt.

She couldn't explain why she had the feeling, but she did. And as soon as she realized it, she knew that she was correct. This was on purpose... this was a threat against her son.

Amelia was aware of Victoria and Nick speaking quietly to Ann, trying to pry any information out of her at all.

Amelia listened as the young woman refused to answer.

She felt herself breath in and out deeply, trying to take in everything that she had just had an epiphany about.

And then, something inside of Amelia snapped.

She found herself walking toward Ann, who was sitting up on the exam table. She reached Ann, and attacked, pushing her shoulders down on the table violently and screamed at her.

"Who are you?! What do you know!?"

Amelia vaguely heard Victoria and Nick shout in response, trying to reason with her. Victoria attempted to pull Amelia away, who was practically choking the woman on the table in anger.

Amelia shrugged off Victoria when the door slammed open at the sound of Amelia's shouted questions and the screams of the young woman.

"What the hell?!" It was Alby, who ended up pulling Amelia off of Ann. Amelia clawed at Ann, who was on her side, massaging her throat and gasping for breath, with tears flowing down from her own eyes.

"What the hell was that about?" Alby asked fiercely, with his hands on her shoulders.

Amelia scratched at Alby's hands and glared, yelling and screaming incoherently at the girl, Ann who now looked shocked more than anything else.

"Alby, get your hands off her, please." She heard Newt say with a hardness to his voice.

She didn't see him come in, so blinded by her awful anger and surprise.

She felt Newt's arms around her waist, taking her away from Alby, and pulling her to face him, with his hands on her shoulders.

He looked at her in deep concern. He saw the tears streaming down her face in frustration. He had never seen her lose it like this.

She was usually a very calm person.

She was now hyperventilating in stress. He glanced over to the young pregnant woman impassively.

Something was definitely wrong if Amelia had reacted so violently.

"It's alright love, just take some deep breaths. Match my breathing, and then we can figure it out." Amelia let herself be lulled into peacefulness by Newt's calming presence and slow words. She closed her eyes and took his advice, concentrating on her deep breaths. She felt the small bit of anger she felt, leave her. She opened her eyes, to see him looking at her in confusion.

She burst into tears. She sobbed into his shoulders and whispered into his ear as he held her tightly. He heard through her awful sobbing and heaving breaths.

"The name...Isaac."

He was now even more concerned.

He looked at Victoria in question, who appeared to be torn between horror and minor amusement at her best friend's crazy reaction.

Nick and Alby stood, talking to the young woman, who was avoiding all their glances and questions, her own eyes shut with tears.

"For God's sake, Newt. What's wrong with you? She's unstable." Newt glared over Amelia's shoulder at Alby. "She almost killed a pregnant woman, Newt. How can you expect us to trust her?"

"What happened?" Alby asked finally, taking in the scene surrounding him, trying to wrap his head around it all.

Amelia had seemed to be so calm and easy-going. Apparently he was wrong.

Victoria and Nick recounted to Alby the events of only a few minutes earlier. Newt listened as he sat with Amelia on the floor, with his arms around her, trying to give her comfort.

He felt himself tense when he heard them mention Isaac's name. No wonder Amelia had freaked out as she had. It was almost as if her mama bear had come out, trying to protect her little boy.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

A young pregnant woman who just so happened to be pregnant, was attacked randomly by someone who knifed into her stomach the letters of his son's name, and she was able to make her way to the one place where Amelia was located.

So who was threatening Isaac? Who was it that was warning Amelia?

Newt patted Amelia on the head and gave her a small kiss. He then placed her back on the floor as he stood up quietly.

He walked up to Nick, Victoria and Alby, asking to see the notepad.

Newt looked intensely at the diagram that Victoria had replicated from the young woman's stomach.

A backwards 'C'.

Two upside down 'A's.

A backwards 'S'.

And last, three lines making an unmistakable 'I'.

The name was written vertically across her stomach. The 'C' and one 'A' next to each other. Then the other 'A'. It ended with the 'I' and 'S' next to each other.

Newt felt a pang in chest reading that name. What was going on? Who knew about his son? And why did they send his name as a message?

What did it all mean?

Newt walked up the young woman who was sitting on the table, looking terrified.

He looked down at her.

"Will you bloody tell me why a stranger carved my son's name in your stomach? And why would you allow him to do that?" The young woman heard the other two men and the blonde woman give noises of surprise at the man's statement.

Ann looked at the man in fear and then glanced to the young woman, Amelia, who had attacked her earlier. Ann noticed that the man now speaking to her seemed to be quite gentle and kind with her.

Ann burst into tears, sobbing.

"He said he would kill me and the baby if I told you anything."

"We could easily kill you now. He's left you here on your own." Newt said stonily at the woman.

"Plus," Alby said, shooting a glance at Newt, "We can offer you protection."

"Why did you do it though? Why let that man mutilate you?" Nick asked curiously.

"Because he gave me food, and shelter. And he also gave me money. Enough that I could live on and give the baby a good life. I'm...I'm used to the streets."

Alby and Nick looked at each other.

Newt still stared at the young woman with a glare.

"What did he look like?"

"I don't know. He was cloaked, from head to toe, in dark brown."

"Did he speak in a unique manner at all?"

Ann shook her head no.

"This...it's your son's name?"

He looked at her with a glare. "It is. You can now understand why my wife reacted so violently. Nobody, we thought, knew about him in this world."

Ann felt herself shrink. This man was far scarier than Amelia. She had attacked him with all the defensiveness of a woman protecting her child. But, Newt had a serious, impassive face. His eyes were quite cold, far different than they had looked only a few minutes ago when he was trying to calm his wife down.

This was someone that she couldn't lie to.

"I'm sorry." She apologized, "I just...I just wanted to do what was best for my own child. I didn't know what he was going to do. He just told me to come here, and that you would take care of me. He said that the cuts would be shallow, that there would be no danger to myself or the baby."

"Well, Ann? Is it?" Alby asked, offering her his hand. She took it and he helped her up off the table. "I suggest you stay here for a while. Chuck is waiting for you in the hall. He can introduce some people to you that you can stay with and you can get something to eat."

Alby opened the door, calling for Chuck, who showed up with his eyes and face dying from curiosity.

"Show this young lady a place where she can stay for a few days, away from Newt and Amelia's apartment, and then make sure she gets something to eat. Since, we all dropped the food trying to get here quickly."

Alby closed the door behind him. He stared at Newt, who had his arms crossed and stood looking right back at him.

Alby glanced at Amelia, who sat on the floor, with her knees pulled up under her chin, hugging her legs, staring off into space.

"What was that all about? A son? Are you serious?"

Newt ignored Alby and walked over to Amelia, helping her to stand up. He wiped the remaining tears off of her face with the back of his hand and put an arm around her.

She looked up at him suddenly.

"I'm sorry." She croaked. "I didn't mean to-I just lost complete control. It was like somebody else took over my body."

"That's no excuse. I can't trust that you won't attack anyone else."

"Please, Alby. Amelia is normally the most mild-mannered person in the world. She's never been a pushover, but she's usually pretty easy going. Apparently you just can't mess with her kid." Victoria answered Alby with her own statement, staring at him levelly.

Newt looked in between Victoria and Alby, while Amelia finally perked up at her statement, looking up at Victoria and the two other men.

She cleared her throat.

"Isaac is my son. Well, our son." She pointed between her and Newt. "He's still alive. Or, at least I think he is. He's close to turning ten now. He favors Newt a lot in his appearance." She sighed, staring at Newt who only nodded at her statement.

"Did you know about your son these last ten years?" Nick asked quietly, watching for Newt's reaction to the question.

Newt nodded his affirmation.

"So, it wasn't just Amelia that you were keeping tabs on, but your son also?"

He nodded once again.

"Dammit Newt." Alby sighed, closing his eyes. "Why couldn't you have just told us? We've been so worried about you, man. Why couldn't you trust us?" Alby looked at him, a mixture of anger and frustration showing on his face.

Newt shrugged. "I just couldn't. It was too hard. I missed them too much. I didn't want anyone to know, I didn't want anyone to pity me. I didn't want anyone to know that my family was abandoned." He finished his statement so quietly, that only Amelia heard what he said at the end. She grabbed his hand with her own smaller one and squeezed it.

"Well, it makes more sense now why you two are so attached to each other. You guys have a kid." Victoria said, shaking her head in wonder. She watched as Amelia used the back of her hand to wipe tears off of her face.

"About what just happened, then," Alby said, looking at Amelia. "You're to make no contact with that girl Ann, understand me?"

Amelia shifted from one foot to the other, and nodded.

"Good that. We'll get any more information that we can out of her. But you won't be doing it."

"Also," Alby said, looking at her, "I'll go ahead and pardon your offense this time but the next time you attack someone, trying to kill them, you will be banished out of this building. We'll even take you outside the walls of the city, if we need to."

Amelia looked up in surprise. "Alright, I understand. We can't hurt each other."

"And, your punishment..." She looked at Newt who was only staring at Alby curiously.

"Technically," Newt said, looking at Alby with a serious look, "that teenage girl was not living in this building at the time that Amelia attacked her."

Everyone looked at Newt, who's face remained impassive.

"Alright, what do you suggest then, Newt?"

"Put her on house arrest. I can make sure she's taken care of for three days and then she can return to helping out."

The corner of Newt's mouth twitched slightly.

"Yeah, I'd bet she'd be taken care of," Victoria said, winking at Amelia, who blushed bright red at the insinuation.

Not that she would mind alone time with Newt.

Nick cleared his throat. "Back to the girl. Your son's name on her stomach. Could that just be a coincidence? There's so much going down right now. Children missing. Food is getting harder and harder to come by. Everything here is tense. People don't look at each other in the streets anymore. Hardly anyone goes out at all in fear... If it happened a couple of years ago, I'd say it was a coincidence, but now..." Nick trailed off from his thoughts, looking at the rest of the group in the room.

"No. It's not a coincidence." Alby said, looking at Newt seriously. "There is something really strange going on right now, and this might be the final straw."

Newt nodded. "I'll double our efforts in getting into the next ring of the city. Maybe we can make some trustworthy contacts and figure out what's happening."

"Good that." Alby said, nodding at Newt. He then stared at Amelia as well.

"Why don't you and Amelia stay put for a couple of days? We took you away from your honeymoon slightly early. Don't come out until Thursday."

Newt and Amelia looked at each other and nodded in agreement with Alby.

"One last thing," Newt said, as he had his hand on the small of Amelia's back. "Please don't tell anyone about Isaac. That doesn't leave this room. I don't know who is targeting us or what is going on, but I'm not sure exactly who we can trust."

The five adults all nodded in agreement and left the room quietly, pondering the mystery that was beginning to unfold. Newt stopped Amelia, who was started to leave the room, keeping her behind. He put his hands on her face. She closed her eyes and he pressed his forehead to hers.

"Everything will be alright. I promise, we will do everything possible to make sure that Isaac is safe." He pulled away and looked at her, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. He held her hand tightly as they walked back up the stairs toward their apartment.

She felt comforted by his words, but felt a strong sense of foreboding. She wondered if she would be able to figure out what was happening, hoping that her instincts were wrong, and that everything was just a big coincidence.

* * *

><p>To be continued<p>

Hope you're enjoying everything! I think I've finally found a groove with it. Let me know of any theories or comments that you have!

By the way, this is my longest chapter yet. I've noticed a general trend in my writing is that the chapters get longer as I go on. I'm not looking forward to seeing how long that last chapter for this story will be!


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